Marvel Super Hero Squad

This review is of the version for the Wii. I haven't watched the show, but from everything I've heard about it, I can't imagine liking it in the least. Don't get me wrong; my opinion of this game is not at all based purely upon its approach to the material. I know that I am not in the target demographic, what with there being two digits to my age as well as actual knowledge of the comics in my head, and I don't believe I ever thought otherwise. With anything I dig into, I make efforts to look at it the way it was intended to, and I respect quite a few pieces of entertainment, in spite of them not fitting my personal preferences. However... this is not good, any way you view it. I'd say it was most likely rushed, to fit the release date with when the television series started airing or so, and sadly, this bears all the marks of a licensed video-game. It's short; there's about half a dozen chapters(play one, and you've played them all), give or take, and they take 50-ish minutes to beat each, leaving this with a length of less than ten hours. You can complete it in the weekend you get it, or the first day. There are unlockables, and those extend it, and add replayability value. With that said, I can't claim that the game-play is particularly enjoyable. It is so limited, repetitive, and dull, and gets old just about instantly. Nearly every mission(many of them only loosely tied to the previous and following ones, and that's part of the reason it's mundane, along with everything being the same... also, you don't know where the heck you are for the majority of this, and that makes it tough to get engaged in it, or follow the plot), several of which are extremely short, is running around, beating up foes(the same three or four types throughout this entire thing, at that; in fact, in spite of its roster of 20, the characters(whose personalities are all one-note, stereotypical and obnoxious) in this are minor variations on each other, it's not like there is significance, difference in strength, or anything else that sets them apart from one another), and accomplish exciting tasks, such as destroy something, shoot it, or stand in front of it, hold Down on the pad and press Z repeatedly. It is almost difficult to find your way, because every area looks like the last one(the level design is utterly uninspired), and a couple of times they do this weird thing of doors behind you closing and ones that were closed will then open, so you feel lost until you spot that one minor difference between this room and the one you were in before. Then there is the other type that does break the monotony slightly, where you have to whip the Wii-Mote in a direction when prompted to, and I will admit that this is fun and can border on being awesome, if it is the only thing in this whole production that either word fits on(except for maybe the definitely excellent music, including that annoyingly catchy theme that is impossible to get out of your head). It's all so easy, obvious and simple, if it gets frustrating at points. There are only 2 difficulty settings, and they're too alike. It goes back and forth between challenging(largely for the wrong reasons) and a breeze. Often you can barely tell who or where you are on the screen, on account of the camera that may suddenly decide to focus on your partner(who is not useless in this, they do combat and pick stuff up, and you can switch with them instantly at any time, unlike Lego Star Wars, a title fairly similar, if far superior, to this(and this has the jump in/out second player thing); on the other hand, your ally will constantly get in your way and irritate you, and they won't appear in the stylishly done story-telling segments), or zoom in randomly, and generally be obnoxious and in the way. Oh, and you don't seem to be able to adjust it by yourself. You can do a regular attack and a ranged one(some can fire), and combos(the only training or instruction at it that you get, outside of just trying for yourself, lies in the tutorial video). Yes, projectiles... those aren't bad. Useful. I wouldn't suggest using the Wii-Mote to aim unless you have to, though; it'll send 'em backwards a considerable percentage of the time. Meaning, towards, well, you, the player. Controls are awkward(and can't be changed) and can be sluggish, changing direction takes an excessive amount of time. All these questions... Are you expected to be able to reach and hit the Down button in the heat of battle? Why does it lag on the menu? Where's the guard function? Could Nightcrawler's teleporting have worse programming and range(X-Men Legends II and X-Men: The Official Game have this one beat so hard it ain't funny)? How can they call it "fly" when it's really "levitate briefly, apparently with no way of gaining height, regardless of how helpful it would be"? What's with the unnecessary continuity problems that this creates for no reason(for example, Ms. Marvel provides info through each mission, and yet she can come with you every now and then)? The Hulk opening... WTF? While I would say that physics take a holiday, they're still there, so instead, I'll ask what on Earth they've been puffing on. I can't imagine that they're intentional. The fights against villains are completely staged(I'll give 'em that one of them has a cool setting). There are plenty of glitches, like the common occurrence of NPC's passing you or standing idly. Graphics are great. The jokes and gags are lame, childish and painfully poorly delivered, trying way too hard. I recommend this solely to kids with low expectations, that refuse to try one of the better VG's about the Marvelverse. 6/10